Queen Bee's fourth conference championship

by: adam hurlburt
Staff Writer

It’s starting to become standard fare for the St. Ambrose University Women’s Golf Team – meaning, this whole winning thing.

This is the fourth year in a row that the Queen Bees have won the conference championship, and with a team made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores, they show no signs of slowing down.

The fall half of the split season ended quite nicely with a 65 – 21 record, which included four first place finishes, one second place finish, and three fourth place finishes. This ranks the SAU Women’s Golf team second in the region overall.

New coach Dr. Michael Orfitelli attributes much of the teams success to players like junior Emily Petrucelli, sophomore Nicole Keeney, sophomore Heather Brooks, and sophomore Emily Dean, who really show leadership skills and focus on the fairway.

"Golf requires a lot more mental focus than many people think," said Orfitelli, "It’s a lot like chess, you have to think a few steps ahead in order to do well." Any way you put it, it sure seems like the Queen Bees have been in the right mindset this season.

Despite their conference championship win, Coach Orfitelli believes that both the team and he have some learning to do.

"I’ve coached soccer, volleyball, football, and basketball, but this is my first time coaching golf," Orfitelli said, "There are a few things that I still have to learn, as well as the team, but I believe we are coming along well."

Coach Orfitelli is very optimistic about the future of the team.

"I believe we have a really strong chance at winning nationals if we have a good spring performance," Orfitelli said. "Unfortunately we live in Iowa, which means we don’t get to practice all year long, but I think we’ll manage."

With a team full of gifted freshman and sophomore players, it’s safe to say that we can expect a few more years of straight conference wins and, who knows, maybe even the national title.